It has been a long time since a major series has dealt with ancient Rome and a theme like gladiators. The American streaming provider Peacock wants to fill this gap, and in Germany, you can even watch the series this month on Amazon.
What series is it about? This month, the series Those about to Die will be released. The focus of the series is on gladiatorial combat and the well-known class struggle that comes with it. One is also expected to gain important insight into the processes behind it, which resemble mafia structures.
Those about to Die promises impressive production values with its high budget. As Variety reports, the series with 10 episodes cost around 150 million dollars. This makes it the most expensive independently produced European series of all time. This is also evident from the participants, who are all promising as well.
You can watch a trailer for Those about to Die here:
Famous Director and Recognizable Cast
Who is all involved in the series? In Those about to Die, the German director Roland Emmerich directs. He is mainly known for disaster films. His most famous film is probably Independence Day, and most recently, he directed the film Moonfall in 2022.
The cast is also impressive. Anthony Hopkins plays the Roman Emperor Vespasian in the series. Fans of Game of Thrones will also recognize Iwan Rheon, who embodies the character Tenax here. In Game of Thrones, he played the character Ramsay Snow. However, in Those about to Die, he seems to embody a more heroic role.
There are also many series actors worth mentioning, including Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson. The Icelandic actor had a small role in Game of Thrones and played a significant role in Vikings: Valhalla, the Netflix series that unfortunately was canceled after three seasons. He also had smaller roles in Succession and The Witcher.
A talented head writer is also working on the series. Robert Rodat wrote the screenplay for Saving Private Ryan. He has previously collaborated with Roland Emmerich on the film 10,000 B.C..
With such a large budget and a solid cast, one can expect a lot from Those about to Die. Especially since there hasn’t been such a high-budget series about the Roman Empire in a long time. On July 19, 2024, you can watch the series with an Amazon Prime subscription. All 10 episodes are expected to be available at launch. Amazon already had a major hit series this year: The Fallout series gets a lot right – In one aspect, it is even better than the games.
